Trust is an issue that is often problemcatic. In the play Hamlet by William
Shakespeare, the character Hamlet trusts only a small number of people. He hides his real
personality and opinions from his friends and family. Hamlet, to fool others, often
changes his character. He questions the loyalty of his friends and family. In the play,
friends and family cannot be trusted. Hamlet does not trust those who are close to him
because of the numerous betrayals from his family and friends.
Hamlet is unable to trust others due to the fact that his family and friends are
willing to betray him. When Hamlet’s mother remarries, he speaks of how he feels he has
been betrayed by his mother:
“‘By what it fed on, and yet within a month –
Let me not think on’t; frailty, thy name is woman!
…
Would have mourn’d longer, - married with my uncle,
My father’s brother, but no more like my father
…
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to good;
But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue!’” (Act I scene II, 145 – 159.)
Hamlet feels betrayed by his mom because of her marriage to his uncle, but he cannot
voice his opinion to her. Along with his feelings of betrayal, he feels angry about her
quick decision to marry again. He links her quick remarriage with her inability to control
her sexual desires. He is furious at the fact that his mother prefers instant pleasure over
love, and feels that his uncle could never compare to his father. Although all these
thoughts are running through his head, he is unable to speak about his situation with
anyone. He is unable to voice his anger over how his mother chose a man who – in his
opinion – could never live up to his father’s shadow. In order to hide his feelings, Hamlet
puts on a front to fool the character, while he keeps his dark secrets to himself. The lack
of trust is evident due to Hamlet’s inability to talk comfortably with anyone in the play,
especially Claudius, who is a person Hamlet could never converse honestly with because
of the horrible sins he has made: “’Then I’ll look up; My fault is past. But O, what form
of prayer Can serve my turn? ”Forgive me my foul murder”? That cannot be for which I
did the murder, My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.’” (Act III scene III, lines
50 – 54) Claudius causes the most grief towards Hamlet because Claudius is the person
responsible for the death of Hamlet’s beloved father. The murder is a form of betrayal
because it hurt Hamlet deeply and this was done without his consent. He has told many
lies to Hamlet, thus deeming his untrustworthy. Claudius has also made countless
attempts to kill Hamlet, who is his blood-related nephew. Despite the fact that both
Claudius and Hamlet are blood relatives, one still desires to kill the other. In the play
Hamlet, blood ties or special bonds are not of great importance. Claudius has the ability
to hurt his own family without a second thought. He killed his own brother for power and
takes his wife, as well as attempting to kill his own nephew. The betrayal of Hamlet’s
family is a way of how friends and family cannot be trusted, and the immoral ways of
finding information show the lack of trust between the characters.
Throughout the play, the act of spying is evident to find information from others.
The character Polonius often spies on Hamlet. Polonius asks many times for others to
find information from Hamlet:
“’At such a time I’ll loose my daughter to him:
Be you and I an arras then;’” (Act II scene II, lines 163 – 164.)
“’My lord, he’s going to his mother’s closet:
Behind the arras I’ll convey myself,
To hear the process: I’ll warrant she’ll tax him home:
And, as you said, and wisely was is said,
‘Tis meet that some more audience than a mother,
Since nature makes them partial, should o’erhear
The speech of vantage’” (Act III scene III, lines 27- 33.)
Polonius, throughout the play, never confronts Hamlet face-to-face. He always convinces
others to talk Hamlet while he watches from the sidelines. Polonius pressures both
Ophelia and Gertrude to talk to Hamlet and gather information. In the quotations, He
orders his daughter to talk to Hamlet to find out if his ‘pretending to be crazy’ act is true
or not. Polonius also asks the Queen to talk to Hamlet while he hides behind a piece of
tapestry. He tells Gertrude to inform to Hamlet that his ‘pretending to be crazy’ act is
unacceptable. He is not able to talk to Hamlet in an honest way – without barriers.
Polonius is never able to converse with Hamlet without hidden intentions. Hamlet also
never has the chance to let down his defenses in front of Polonius, and everyone else.
Hamlet continuously hides his real self to fool those who watch him from afar. According
to Hamlet, everyone has an ulterior motive that makes them seem untrustworthy.
Claudius uses inappropriate tactics to find information. Claudius uses those close to
Hamlet to find information as well as to hurt him. Claudius asks Hamlet’s friends,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to survey Hamlet’s behaviour: “’I entreat you both, That,
being of so young days brought up with him And sith so neighbour’d to his youth and
haviour’” (Act II scene, II lines 10 – 12.) Claudius becomes suspicious of Hamlet’s
behaviour and sends two of his friends to monitor him. Claudius uses his authority as the
king to find people to spy on Hamlet. By asking Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to watch
him, Claudius is creating a barrier between him and Hamlet. They are not able to talk
without someone interfering. Similar to Polonius, Claudius does not get the chance to talk
with Hamlet face-to-face. Claudius watches from a distance while others do what he is
supposed to do himself. He asks others to spy on Hamlet, and he even asks someone else
to kill him while he just watches. Claudius stands in the background. Instead of taking
action, he remains passive. The way Claudius uses others to spy on his nephew reveals
how there is no trust within their relationship. Claudius himself is aware that Hamlet does
not trust him because if he went to Hamlet and questioned him, he knows Hamlet would
tell him lies. The underhanded ways of collecting information, as well as the lack of faceto-face communication reveal the lack of trust among characters.
Although Hamlet is not able to trust others because of the betrayals from others,
there is also the fact that he also deceives others. Hamlet is not an innocent person, he
does commit sins. Hamlet is not immune to murderous thoughts and deeds: “’I’ll have
these players Play something like the murder of my father Before mine uncle, I’ll observe
his looks, … If he do blench, I know my course.”’ (Act II scene II, lines 596 – 600.) “’O,
from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!’” (Act IV scene IV,
lines 65 – 66) Hamlet’s family is unable to be honest to him due to the fact that he
himself cannot be honest. People are wary of trusting him because of his dysfunctional
personality, and many characters in the play are fooled by him many times. No one is
able to see if Hamlet was really crazy or if he is acting, they are never able to detect what
he is thinking. Hamlet betrays others by lying and deceiving them without guilt or reason.
To Hamlet, acting is effortless, which is why he is such a dangerous person who should
not be trusted. Hamlet is the type of person who is not able to speak to others freely,
which creates a barrier between him and society. Because Hamlet is blocking himself
from society, no one is able to have the chance to understand him. Hamlet keeps many
secrets to himself, as well as the fact that he sent his two friends to their death. He has
betrayed them by sending them to be executed: “’Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold
their course for England: of them I have so much to tell thee.’” (Act IV scene VI lines 26
– 38) Hamlet sends both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their death. Claudius gave
letters to both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to have Hamlet executed, but Hamlet
sneakily switches the letters to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed instead of him.
Hamlet betrays them by giving them letters with false information. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern never did anything wrong, even if they tried to gather information from
Hamlet, they were only following the King’s consent. What is most surprising is that both
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet’s friends, yet he feels no remorse sending them
away. Hamlet has the inability to trust his friends and family because he knows how evil
people can be, he knows how bad they can become because he does the same things:
telling lies, manipulating others, and spying on others. Everything his friends and family
did to lose his trust he did to others in the same way. Hamlet shows how friends and
family cannot be trusted because he is also able to betray others without guilt or reason.
In conclusion, friends and family cannot be trusted in the play. The many
betrayals of friends and family prove that even if one has known each other for years, it
does not mean that they are close. The means of finding information such as spying
shows that there is a lack of trust because people are not able to talk to each other face-toface to find the truth. Hamlet, Claudius, and many others collect information or proof by
watching each other’s actions, and reactions from afar. Therefore, because of the many
betrayals done to Hamlet, the inappropriate ways of collecting facts, and how Hamlet
deceives and betrays those who are close to him, family and friends cannot be trusted.